Los Angeles Lakers player arrested in New Orleans for alleged battery

Editor's note: The New Orleans Police Department initially reported the waitress was pregnant, but later corrected that information.

Orleans Parish Sheriff's OfficeDerrick Caracter

A back-up forward for the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team was arrested and jailed early Sunday for hitting a waitress at a downtown International House of Pancakes while drunk, according to police.

Derrick Caracter, 22, was arrested about 1:18 a.m. Sunday at the IHOP in the 800 block of Canal Street, said New Orleans Police spokeswoman Shereese Harper.

Caracter, a 6-foot-9 forward who was in New Orleans for the playoffs series, was drunk and acting disorderly inside the restaurant, police said.

He "started grabbing and pulling" a waitress, prompting the manager to go outside and flag down a police officer, Harper said. The female officer tried to defuse the situation, Harper said, but Caracter remained obstinate. The officer arrested him.

He was handcuffed and taken to Orleans Parish jail and booked with one count of battery for hitting the waitress, as well as one count each of public intoxication and resisting arrest. Each charge is a municipal violation, police said.

Records show Caracter was released from jail, but it is unclear when his bond was posted.

The incident took place near the Lakers' hotel on a night in which there was no game. On Sunday night, the Hornets beat the Lakers and evened the playoff series at two games apiece. Caracter, a rookie, did not play.

The teams meet again Tuesday night in Los Angeles.

A manager at IHOP was aware of the incident but declined to comment Monday morning.